Tom Nakashima's Blog

Sometimes if it says âextremely graphic videoââ¦ Iâll admit that I have to take a look.Â So Iâm not complaining that there are gruesome scenes showing the capture and death of Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.... Â Iâm the one who clicked on it, but I didnât enjoy it. Â Times have certainly changed.Â Scenes that were unattainable a few years ago are now everywhere on internet sites and blogs from around the world.Â I can imagine that there are plenty of newsrooms conflicted over whether to air some of this stuff.Â The inevitable technology has brought us a close up view of some exhilarating thingsâ¦ and some awful things.Â Iâm fine with a prime time network show refusing to air lurid video.Â But I believe that anyone over the age of 5 will see it, if he or she wants to. Â Gadhafi was a criminalâ¦ we get it.Â And we seem to have more tolerance for a violent demise, as long as heâs âa bad guy.âÂ But the uncontrolled frenzy, the mob mentality of those who surrounded him in his last momentsâ¦ gave me the chills.
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I just want good things to happen to this guy.Â No, I didnât expect him to return to the 49ers this season.Â Heâs been vilified, spit on, virtually tarred and featheredâ¦ and blamed for everything including the Lindbergh kidnapping.Â To say his first six seasons were a little rocky is the understatement of the year.Â But look whatâs happened.Â Sports Illustratedâs Jim Trotter says Alex is âreborn.âÂ With Jim Harbaugh on boardâ¦ and with essentially the same roster as last yearâ¦ the Niners are 5-1.Â I thought if Alex Smith was just decent this year, it would be a confidence boost for him.Â Heâs been better than that.Â And this humble kid (whoâs the same age as Tim Lincecum), still gives credit to his teammates.Â And his guys love him back.Â The other day, Frank Gore said âNumber 11âs coming!Â You ainât seen nothinâ yet.âÂ If Alex keeps this up, heâll be more than the Comeback Player of the Yearâ¦ heâll be Comeback Player of The Decade.Â No, Alex Smith is not Joe Montana.Â The good news isâ¦. he doesnât have to be.Â In this weekâs SI, Peter Kingsuggests that Alex Smith vs. Aaron Rodgers in the NFC title game is not impossible.Â Yes, this is the same Peter King who picked the Rams to win the West.
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One of my favorite shows is Real Sports on HBO, which seems to pop up once a month.Â Investigative pieces, player profiles, behind the scenes stories.. theyâre always top notch, and well worth finding.Â But this monthâs commentary by Bryant Gumbelon the status of the NBA lockout is whatâs drawing a lot of heat.Â He made reference to NBA Commissioner David Stern as âa modern day plantation overseer.âÂ Yikes.Â Are you kidding?Â A slavery reference?Â You obviously knew that would light a fire.Â Well, if you just wanted to get Real Sports some attentionâ¦ you certainly got your wish.Â I donât suppose this discussion will die down anytime soon.Â Shaun Powell of ESPNNewYork.comwrites, âYou can disagree with his tactics and his strategy and his idea of what makes for a financially stable NBA.Â But you canât, under any circumstances, compare the most progressive commissioner in sports to a slave owner.â
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I know, youâve heard about the overblown Harbaugh-Schwartz incidenta hundred times this week.Â But I realized that the Handshake and ensuing melee, which took all of about 12 secondsâ¦ is a microcosm of what the 49ers have done to most of their opponents this season.Â They get under your skin, and thereâs nothing you can do about it.Â Getting beat by a bunch of no-names is so humiliating that afterward you chase them across the field and yell, âYou ruined my day!âÂ They not only refuse to apologize.. theyâre laughing all the way to the locker room.Â
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IndyCar racing star Dan Wheldon is gone, following one of the worst crashes in the history of the sportâ¦ at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.Â He was a husband, a fatherâ¦ a champion and friend to many.Â Along with millions, I love the sport of auto racing.Â Of course, thereâs risk and danger.Â And some will say that any race track is an accident waiting to happen.Â But there have beenserious doubtsabout the safety of the steeply banked Las Vegas layout for years.. that itâs too fast, too dangerous.Â When someone as experienced as Dario Franchitti says, âIndyCars shouldnât be racing hereâ..Â someone should listen.Â
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Letâs face it, the 49ers shockedthe Detroit Lions, the team the rest of America has been fawning over for weeks.Â Most of the NFL reporters wouldnât know Delanie Walker from Delaney and Bonnieâ¦ and yet that fourth down slant play to the 49ers tight end sealed the deal in a thriller.Â But all anyone wants to talk about is The Handshake. Hilarious.Â Hereâs what I saw:Â Americaâs darling got punched in the mouth by a bunch of no-names.Â Well, they do have names.Â Like Anthony Davis, Chilo Rachal, Aldon Smith and Teddy Ginn.Â And Lions coach Jim Schwartz?Â I knew you were in trouble when you implied that the 49ers were intimidated by deferring the kickoff.Â From what I can gather, youâre a cocky loudmouthcoach who even trash talks other players.Â Oh, you heard an obscenity?Â Get over it.Â A hard back slap?Â Wow.Â After having your ass kicked for four hours, youâre lucky thatâs all you got.
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I wouldnât wish this on anyone.Â Well, actually I would.Â How about this unlikely scenario for this Sundayâ¦ It would be the ultimate challenge for those giddy Detroit fans, who are obviously basking in all this attention.Â The Tigers fall to Texas, and miss out on their chance at World Series glory.Â Within 15 minutes, the upstart San Francisco 49ers stick a dagger in the heart of Americaâs new darlings, and shock the Detroit Lions.Â Immediately following that, the new owner of the Motor Cityâs NBA franchise announces heâll be relocating the team to the West Coast.Â After the lockout ends, theyâll be known as the Huntington Beach Pistons.Â Eat that.Â Well, at least you still have the Red Wings.
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You canât make this up.Â A crook in Delaware handed a bank tellera demand note for cash.Â When the clerk couldnât make out what it said, she slid it back and demanded he re-write it and submit it again.Â Instead, he bolted out the doorâ¦ and was arrested a few blocks away.Â I guess he should have invested in a laser printer.Â Thereâs a scene in Woody Allenâs Take The Money and Run,where Woodyâs character attempts to rob a bank.Â The teller canât read the demand note and argues over the sentence.. âIâm pointing a gun at you.âÂ The teller says, âThat looks like âgub.âÂ It doesnât look like âgun.ââ
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Waitâ¦ didnât Terry Francona and GM Theo Epstein help the Boston Red Sox win two World Series after they hadnât sniffed a Championship in a hundred years?Â Oh well, anyone can have a good decade.Â Rick Adelman was there for the Kingsâ best years.Â Letâs run him out.Â Steve Mariucci?Â The last guy to take the 49ers to a playoff win.Â Weâre making some changes. Â Bill Neukom?Â Ten months after The Parade down Market Streetâ¦ who does he think he is?Â I know, you raise the bar so highâ¦ expectations change.Â Everybody gets hypercritical.Â Fans, sportswriters, the big wigs.Â Even Christopher Columbus, after opening the door to the New Worldâ¦ was shackled and sent to prison.Â I guess the more things change, the more they stay the same.
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Yeah, the three highest payrolls in baseball are done.. finished for the season.Â And though Alex Rodriguez took it like a man, to see the highest paid guy in the universe make the final out somehow felt righteous to the Yankee Haters.Â And the Red Sox collapse?Â Please.Â Well, Terry Francona mustâve gotten stupid.Â You wonât have him to kick around anymore.Â Oh, and the Phillies?Â I get the impression theyâre still bitter that the San Francisco Giants embarrassed them last year.Â The Giants had to have been a fluke, as if they stole their rightful crown.Â So this year would be differentâ¦ Philadelphia put together the best starting staff in baseball.Â All that got you is a seat on the sidelines.Â How do you like the view?Â Now itâs down to the Tigers, Rangers, Brewers and Cardinals.Â To be World Champions, just about everything has to go right in October.Â For only one of them, everything will.
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Well, almost.Â I got the dreaded âJury Summons,â.Â This is my week to be available, so I had to check the court websiteevery day to see if I had to report downtown.Â I kept watching my number slide into the next box, until ultimately.. my service wasnât needed.Â Yes.Â Joy.Â Relief.Â Thank You. Itâs not that I tried to avoid jury service, but I didnât exactly volunteer.Â The last time I got called, Iâd barely had time for a cup of coffeeâ¦ and Iâm in the box for a murder trial.Â Yikes.Â Iâll tell you, it was a fascinating, learning experience.Â I saw first-hand how much work goes into prosecuting and defending someone whose life is on the line.Â Â And it doesnât all wrap up in 44 minutes, like on TV.Â Well, itâs hard not to appreciate the systemâ¦ and the judges, prosecutors, defenders and police who toil in it.Â It's not lost on me.Â Â Maybe I'llÂ catch you next time.
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Well, it turns out I didnât know squat.Â Once again, I gladly enrolled at the University of Ken Burns.Â After watching his stunning 5 Â½ hour Prohibition documentary about a remarkable chapter of Americaâs history, I realized Iâve been uninformed at best.Â At worst, I must be a complete dunce.Â The story of alcoholism, morality and values spans more than a hundred years, so the ratification of the Eighteenth Amendment didnât happen overnight.Â Prohibition was supposed to be the answer to so many of our problems.Â It wasnât.Â Law-abiding citizens became criminalsâ¦. and thugs not only got rich, they became celebrities.Â Catch this excellent film if you can.Â Youâll see why Prohibitionis a lot more than machine guns and Al Capone.Â And why weâre still asking relevant questions about the role of government in peopleâs lives, and who is â and who is not â a real American.
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Lots of people like to go rock climbing.Â The great outdoors, fresh air..Â the exhilaration.Â But after seeing Alex Honnold scale the face of a mountain, calling it climbing seems ridiculous.Â Lara Logan featured Alex on 60 Minutesâ¦. and it was fascinating, jaw-dropping and more than a little scary.Â Alex, whoâs 26, is from Sacramentoâ¦ and heâs the Leonardo da Vinci of climbers.Â What he does is called free-soloing.Â He climbs mountain faces and rocks without ropesâ¦ no climbing gear, no hooks, harnessesâ¦ no nothing.Â Of course, one little slipâ¦ one loose rock and youâre gone.Â I know, itâs insane.Â Heâs the first person to free-solo climb up the northwest face of Half Dome, 2,000 feet straight up in Yosemite.Â Heâs climbed rock walls people wouldnât tackle WITH ropes.Â Alex, Iâd rather you not do this anymore.Â Iâd like you to see age 30â¦ but I donât suppose youâll take my advice.Â Lara Logan.. thanks for the story.Â Â
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Oh the 49ers didnât do much.Â They only came from 20 down midway through the third quarter to upset the Philadelphia Eagles on the roadâ¦ and are now an unlikely 3-1.Â Yeah the Eagles, known as The Dream Team, amassed a staggering 500 yards on offenseâ¦ and Michael Vick is as dangerous as advertised.Â So how in the world did this happen?Â Thatâs what Philly coach Andy Reid is wondering.Â His tight-lipped post game comments were pricelessâ¦ he was STEAMING.Â Did the Eagles aid in their embarrassment?Â Of courseâ¦ two field goals missed and a couple of big fumbles.Â But the 49ers took advantageâ¦ and with every first down, every completed pass, every dive into the end zoneâ¦. their confidence grows.Â And it looks like DeSean Jackson likes to trash talk before the game's over.Â You know what that makes you?Â 1-3.Â Hilarious.
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I was wrong about Moneyball.Â I thought it unlikely that anyone whoâs not a baseball fan would be very interested in stats, on-base percentage and the Oakland As.Â But sure enough, itâs scoring big box office numbersâ¦ and as baseball movies go, itâs got plenty of mainstream appeal.Â Â Â But Moneyball is not just about baseball is it?Â Itâs for anybody whoâs ever dreamed of taking on the big guys, of challenging the way things areâ¦ Â and itâs about believing in yourself.Â I loved this movie.Â Finding undervalued players is at the core of the story.Â And I was wondering if thereâs a sabermetrics for offensive linemen?Â I mean the 49ers could use some help thereâ¦
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And I thought the Giants Faithful were a little down.Â Theyâre downright giddy compared to what Boston Red Sox fans must be feeling today.Â What happened last night, the culmination of a horrendous free fallâ¦ was cruelty personified.Â They went into September with a nine game lead.. and squandered it away.Â No matter how you try and explain itâ¦ injuries, weariness, bad karma, the moon not in alignmentâ¦ you canât go 7-20 down the stretch and expect a parade.Â And the Atlanta Braves, who had a ten game lead over the Cardinals in late Augustâ¦ couldnât gather any momentum, and losttheir final five games.Â Goodnight.Â The offseason can be a long, cold stretch.Â Itâs especially lonely when you canât help but feel.. that you choked.
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Like so many professionals from the old days, shoeshine guys seem to be a dying breed.Â You just donât see many around anymore, understandable in these times.Â Thatâs why I loved Bob Shallitâs piece on âChickâ Richardson, who may be one of the longest tenured shoeshine guys in Sacramento.Â Of course, you can do your own shoes, but when an expert whoâs lovingly mastered the art form does them for youâ¦ itâs way cool.Â In this past year, Iâve discovered old school craftsmen who repair watches,repair shoesâ¦. and now I can add a shoeshine pro to the list.Â Not that I need them all tomorrowâ¦. I just feel good about knowing where they are.Â
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A T & T Park has been a packed house all season long for the World Champion Giantsâ¦ and the energy and love from millions of fans is not lost on the players and management.Â As the season winds down, Iâve watched Bruce Bochy, Ryan Vogelsong, Tim Lincecum, Cody Ross and so many others express their thanks to a loyal fan base that has allowed them to play their hearts outâ¦ to reach for their dreams.Â Fans matter.Â It reminded me that The Eagle has loyal fans too..Â who know us, reach out to us, question usâ¦ and appreciate the best in Classic Rock.Â You make our shows successful, and help support dozens of worthy causes.Â Believe me, without youâ¦ weâre not here.Â Thank you for allowing us to do what we love.

My reaction wasâ¦âWait a minuteâ¦ what just happened there?âÂ Late in the Bears-Packers game, the Chicago Bears nearly Â pulled off one of the great misdirection plays in the history of televised football.Â The Pack, with a comfortable lead, punted to Chicago.Â Then, things got more than a little weird.Â Devin Hester, the most dangerous return man in football, pretended to drift under the ballâ¦ and so did his teammates.Â The Packers headed straight for him.Â But the ball actually came down on the other side of the field, where it was caught by Johnny Knox, who streaked down the right sideline for a touchdownâ¦ or so we thought.Â A holding call negated what will be remembered as one of the coolest trick plays in the NFL archives.Â Actually, Joe Buck didnât get too excitedabout itâ¦ I kind of wish Al Michaels had the call.
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Of course itâs a dagger in the heart of the ever loyal Giants fans, whoâve grinded out every at-bat, every heartbreaking loss.Â But come on, itâs been damned entertaining.Â With the absolutely woeful, impotent offenseâ¦ these guys should have finished in the cellar.Â Only the pitching has kept them in contention for this long.Â I mean, it seems like theyâve lost 100 games 2-1 or 1-0â¦. It happened over and over again.Â I know, if Tim Lincecum had been with the Yankees, heâd be 21-6.Â Same with Matt Cain. We get it.Â But itâs a tough game, and thereâs a fine line between an empty stadium and a packed house.Â You played your asses off, and it didnât work out.Â So hold your heads high.Â All in all, itâs been quite a ride.Â Canât wait for spring training.
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Martin Kessman and I have something in commonâ¦ we love burgers.Â But heâs a little larger than I am, and the 290 pound New York man is upset at White Castle â¦.because he finds it hard to fit into their booths. Â Â He was so incensed that heâs filed a lawsuit in Manhattan federal court.Â Oh, the humiliation.Â Oh, the annoyance.Â We get it.Â But do we have to sue everyoneâ¦ over every little annoyance?Â Mr. Kessman says, âI just want to sit down like a normal person.âÂ Hereâs an ideaâ¦ if you want to sit down like a normal person, Â spend a little more time becoming one.Â How âbout a walk around the block once in a while?
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In a story that has rocked the poker community,the US Justice Department has accused principals of Full Tilt Poker... of defrauding thousands of online poker players out of more than $300 million that is still owed to them.Â This isnât some nickel and dime websiteâ¦ itâs been one of the best known, heavily promoted sites out there. Â Â A US attorney said âFull Tilt was not a legitimate poker company, but a global Ponzi scheme.â And those named in the civil suit include Howard Lederer and Chris âJesusâ Ferguson.Â Â Yikes.Â Those who follow the game will tell you that these two donât exactly fit the profile of âsleazy crooks.âÂ Theyâre two of the best known players in the world, whose reputations were impeccable.Â Until now.Â In any case, this doesnât look goodâ¦ and Iâm anxious to see how this all shakes out.Â All I know isâ¦ you just canât put a guy named âJesusâ behind bars.
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I agree with Monty Poole of the San Jose Mercury News.. whoâs recent story suggests that success can be hazardous to your career.Â Yeah, prosperity can be costly.Â The Golden State Warriors had gone years without sniffing the playoffs.Â Â Then, not long after upsetting top seed Dallas one year, GM Chris Mullin was gone.Â The last time the 49ers won the NFC West, they actually made it to the second round of the playoffs.Â Not good enoughâ¦ Steve Mariucci was fired.Â Rick Adelman had a marvelous run with the Sacramento Kings, and he was then run out of town.Â The Giants took it to Game Seven of the 2002 World Series.Â What happened to the manager, Dusty Baker?Â Oh, gone.Â And now, not even a year removed from the uncontrolled euphoria down Market Street, the World Series Championsâ top guy, Bill Neukom, has been escorted out of the building.Â So there it is.Â Give it all youâve gotâ¦ play your heart outâ¦ then watch your back.
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As the Giantsâ season comes to an end, those of us whoâve lived and died with every pitch know the highs and lows of trying to do the near impossibleâ¦ repeat as World Series Champions.Â But they sure have been fun to watch.Â There are new kids coming into their own.. Brett Pill, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Madison Bumgarner.Â And Ryan Vogelsong has been the feel-good story of the year.Â But I donât think Iâve seen anyone play the game with more joy, more enthusiasm than the Panda.Â Pablo Sandoval.Â He looks like he embraces every moment of every inning with a free-spirited, unapologetic love of the game, and it infuses those around him with the same spirit.Â The other night, I saw his reaction when a teammate hit a home run.Â With legs that must be bone-weary, the Panda jumped so high, his head hitÂ the top of the dugout.Â Watching Panda.. has been a joy.Â Now, Brandon Belt?Â Heâs kinda dour.
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Of courseÂ the 49ers and the Dallas Cowboys have a long historyâ¦ and plenty of pundits canât stop bringing that up.Â Oh, the âRivalryââ¦ Oh, itâs âThe Catchââ¦ Oh, itâs Bill Walsh and Tom Landryâ¦I know every blogger, tweeter and self-described expert has to fill up time and space.Â What does it all mean for Sunday?Â It doesnât mean squat.Â This is about 2011, and Iâll go out on the limb and say Jim Harbaugh is living in the moment.Â He doesnât care what Michael Irvin or Troy Aikman thinks.Â Heâs game planning for Tony Romo, Dez Bryant and holy smokesâ¦ what are we gonna do about DeMarcus Ware?Â Â Â Yes, this is an important game for Mr. Harbaugh and the Niners, who started last year 0-5.Â So all the blowhard talk can be distilled into one sentence:Â âIf the underdog 49ers can find a way to eke out an unlikely win over the Cowboys, theyâll be 2-0 with momentum on their side.â Â Whatâs your deal?
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With so many beat writers following the San Francisco Giants, thereâs naturally a lot of overlapping coverage.Â Thatâs fine with us fans, who want to hear, see and read every morsel of every little detail about the Orange and Black.Â But when it all hit the fan yesterday, only one guy, Mark Purdy of the San Jose Mercury News, broke the stunning story.Â Markâs homework obviously paid off, and he had the scoop of the yearâ¦.that Giantsâ managing general partner and chief executive officer Bill Neukom was out as head honcho, after a fallout with the Executive Committee of the Giantsâ ownership group.Â Derek Moore and I were talking about the fact that anyone can be a bloggerâ¦ anyone can tweet whatever they want.Â But this is old school journalismâ¦ a lot of digging, prodding, protecting sources and sifting through whatâs fact and what isnât.Â Nice work, Mark.Â By the way, the company line is that this is a âretirement.âÂ Hilarious.Â
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I think the creativity and vision of those at the helm of NFL Filmshave been, in no small measure, responsible for the skyrocketing popularity of NFL Football in America.Â The emotion of Vince Lombardi on the sideline, the booming voice of John Facenda announcing the arrival of the Oakland Raiders, that spiral from Montana to Clarkâ¦ these moments lovingly captured on film have made a great game even greater.Â So when I found out that the producers at NFL Films are behind a new series,A Football Lifeâ¦ well, I wanted you to know about it.Â Their first subject is Patriots coach Bill Belichick, the only coach ever wired for sound for an entire NFL season.Â By the way, of all the coaches who could have agreed to this kind of access, the last one I would expect would be Mr. Belichick.Â Isnât he the guy under the hoodie who never answers questions?Â I mean he makes Jim Harbaugh look like a chatterbox.Â So here it comesâ¦ Â Part I of Bill Belichick:Â A Football Life premieres exclusively on the NFL Network tomorrow.
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The thing that drives the media horde crazy about 49ers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is what I love the most.Â He just doesnât answer their questionswith muchâ¦ well, with much substance.Â Heâs vague, elusive, snarky and not very forthcoming.Â And the dumber the questions get, the less he says.Â Hilarious.Â Â I guess people expect him to explain his thought process about the offense, defense, special teamsâ¦ play calling and what heâll have for dinner.Â His attitude seems to be âIâll just keep that to myself, thank you.âÂ Jim Harbaugh reminds me of the best poker players Iâve seenâ¦ like Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius and Phil Ivey.Â They say nothing, show nothing, Â reveal even less.â¦ then stack you off.Â Will this be a fun season?Â Iâll just keep that to myselfâ¦
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Alex Smith.. a resurrection?Â Too early to tell.Â But this was huge for himâ¦ seven years of underachieving, and now he wins?Â Sure he was only 15 for 20, but what was more significant was what DIDNâT happen:Â He didnât fumble, throw an interception, get sackedâ¦. or run out of timeÂ getting a play call in. Â Itâs only one game, but The Jim Harbaugh Era has begun.. and this means way more than just beating the Seahawks.Â Things have changed, and hereâs how I knowâ¦Â It was The Hug.Â When Alex came to the bench following his touchdown plunge, the coach hugged his quarterback as if heâd just won Dancing With The Stars.Â I thought he was gonna French Kiss him.Â That moment told me this team has moved onâ¦ from the darkness of Singletary-Nolan-Erickson to something resembling hope.Â Yeah, Dallas is coming in and we could lose to the Cowboys 45-3â¦ so what?Â For the moment, the 49ers are tied for first place.Â And after what weâve seen the last few years, isn't that worth a hug?
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I suddenly felt like jumping into a Fantasy Football Leagueâ¦ then I caught myself.Â What am I thinking?Â I donât do Fantasy Football.Â Oh, I know itâs taken the country by stormâ¦Â there are even a dozen sports shows devoting precious airtime to fake roster spots.Â I get it.Â And all of my friends are ready to roll.Â Brian, Derek, ChrisÂ and Lizann are obsessedâ¦.up to their necks in draft picks, trades and speculation.Â Theyâre wondering when Iâll join the rest of civilization and finally take the plunge.Â Being an âimaginaryâ General Manager/Head Coach?Â I donât think soâ¦ I have enough trouble with real life.Â And as the All-Pro is carted off the field with a career-threatening injury, you know what the guy on the couch is saying? Â Â âThat better not be my tight end!â
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As the pennant chase takes a dark turn for the Giants, thereâs a bright light on the horizonâ¦ or at least we hope there is.Â And hope is a precious commodity now.Â Giants minor league prospect Brett Pill, who will turn 27 tomorrow, finally made his Major League debut on Tuesday and hit the first pitch he swung at off the second deck of the Western Metal Supply Company.Â Before Duane Kuiper got to âHigh Drive..â it was gone.Â Then yesterday, ho humâ¦. he cranked outÂ another home run. And heâs been in the bigs two days.Â A lot of fans are wondering why he wasnât brought up soonerâ¦.Â heâs actually older than Matt Cain, Panda, Brandon Belt and of course Madison Bumgarner.Â Guess he was biding his time.Â It remains to be seen if a nickname will stickâ¦ âPill The Thrill,â âThe Pill-ager,â âBrett The Threat,ââ¦..Well, if you keep hittinâ, who cares?
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Though I havenât been in a literature class since the Truman administration (or so it seems), I still remember the titles of those wonderful classics.Â Well, I didnât actually read themâ¦ I was too busy screwing around.Â I donât even think I used the CliffsNotes versionsâ¦ that would have been too much trouble.Â Now I see this little find.Â Book-A-Minute Classicsoffersâ¦ guess what?Â Condensed versions of classic books.Â Iâm talking about the gist of the story in about three sentences.Â How about Jane Eyre?Â Edward Rochester..âMy secret is that I have a lunatic wife.âÂ Jane Eyre..âBye.âÂ (Jane Eyre leaves.Â Somebody dies.Â Jane Eyre returns.)Â THE END.Â Where was this when I needed it?
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Sunday was a Ryan Vogelsong gem.. maybe his finest performance of the year.Â In front of a packed house (as every home game is), the series clincher with the D-backs was a microcosm of the season of 2011.Â A Giants pitcher puts it on the line and gets absolutely no support when he needs it most.Â When youâre last in just about every offensive category, what do you expect?Â Pathetic, heartbreakingâ¦ and hard to watch.Â So what now?Â Well, suck it upâ¦ give the youngsters some experience, play your ass off and hold your head high.Â Itâs been a hell of a run.
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